colleen62

I am trying to plan a vacatioin for next June for my husband and I and our 3 children ages 18 to 23. We are interested in the Caribbean (I know this isn't the best time to visit there, but it's the only time that works.) We will be flying from Seattle and prefer a location that we can get to with only one connecting flight. We are interested in a nice beach, snorkeling, possibly fishing, boating and some light hiking and just plain relaxing. I'm thinking of renting a villa. I've been thinking of the Cayman Islands (specifically, 7 mile beach). I'd appreciate any other ideas or suggestions.

RoamsAround

Actually June can be a great time to visit the Caribbean. It's low season so room prices are usually substantially lower than during the winter months. The weather is usually quite good with lots of sun. The Trade Winds have died down so it can be a bit warm and humidity begins to increase but that never ruins anyone's vacation. Lastly, while hurricane season officially starts June 1 the threat of storms is very, very low.

I'm not familiar with travel from Seattle but in addition to Grand Cayman islands you can probably reach in one connecting flight probably include the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Lucia, Barbados, Antigua and Aruba - which one is easiest depends on which airport you connect through. FYI - Miami has flights to almost every major Caribbean island. Other airports like Dallas Fort Worth, Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago have non-stop flights to many Caribbean destinations. FYI - schedules might be such that you might have to overnight somewhere while "enroute" to reach some of these destinations. You might want to check your airline of choice website or websites like Expedia, Orbitz and Travelocity to see what islands you can easily reach from Seattle as that will help you narrow down your search.

Every island has rental villas, fishing, boating, fishing and hiking and depending on your definition you can also find "nice beaches" on just about every island so those attributes don't have to be of major concern. Snorkeling, however, is something you have to think about as the quality can vary greatly throughout the Caribbean. Grand Cayman does have some excellent snorkeling as does St. Thomas. Yu'll find some decent snorkeling opportunities around Antigua and Barbados but less around the other islands I mentioned. unfortunately the destinations with some of the best snorkeling in the Caribbean are somewhat more difficult to reach.

My suggestion is you first pick your island then look for accommodations to fit your needs and budget. Since you want to rent a villa simply do a google search using such topics as "rental Villas + NAME OF ISLAND" and you'll find score of links giving you full information and photos about the villas available on that particular island. Select a couple that interest you and then post a question asking if any contributors on the forum have forst hand knowledge of those particular villas.

colleen62

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll take a look at St. Thomas. Is one part of the island better than another?

girlonthego

We enjoyed our trip to Grand Cayman which also happened to be in June, but about two years ago. It was hot in June, but the weather was good. We snorkeled everywhere. The island offered lots of food choices and we found the food to be good. The people were very friendly. I also know they have lots of villas. My DH and DD went scuba diving and loved it. We stayed at the Marriott which had a small pool, but was very clean and had just been redone about a year prior from a hurricane. Beach was real narrow there. There are many other hotels and villas to stay at.
I have heard some negatives about StThomas as StJohn is much nicer. But I haven't been myself, just commenting.
When we went to GC, my teens were 15 and 16 and our friends had kids the same ages. We found it very safe and walked the beach home from dinner almost every night.

virginia

hi colleen, you really should consider st. john (you still fly to st. thomas). lots more villas available. st. thomas will not have the hiking, st. j has really good hiking opportunities. st. t has snorkeling but st. j has lots more options. plenty of boating & fishing from either island. st. t is really busy, st. j is very laid back. st. t has good shopping & loads of restaurants - st. j has a few restaurants. it's a 45 mins commute by ferry from charlotte amalie (where duty free shops/airport are) to st. j so you could easily do a shopping day if desired.
if you do stay on st.t the east end of the island is preferable or one of the houses overlooking magens bay.

grand cayman is another island with lots of villa options. you won't find many houses actually on seven mile beach but there are some nice condo's. (ie plantana or villas of the galleon) good snorkeling, good dining options, hiking is limited to mastic trail.

no matter where you go in june the weather should be nice & as roams mentioned prices down. also tourist count down so you'll get a bit more authentic island experience.

once you choose your island we fodorites can be much more specific with suggestions. i've done A LOT of villa research so i may be able to help with that.

GeorgeR

I am a big fan of the Cayman Islands. It is definitely place where you can do all of the activities you mentioned above. With 5 people , you would be better off in a condo than in a hotel. I would suggest going to VRBO.com or Flipkey.com to see actual properties you can rent. You probably can obtain a better discount from the owners than if you went to the condo's rental agent.